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Mr. Mariner currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Major League Baseball in the Office of the Commissioner. In addition to his daily responsibilities for overseeing the Major League Baseball's central office budgeting, financial reporting, and risk management activities, Mr. Mariner's responsibilities also include administering MLB's $1.5 billion league-wide credit facility; providing updates at Owners' Meetings on the industry's financial health; overseeing all team-level financial reporting through the team CFO's; and providing financial reviews on potential ownership applications. Mr. Mariner also serves on several Commissioner-appointed League-wide committees, including the Finance and Compensation; Revenue Sharing; Long-range Planning; Franchise Relocation; and the new Debt Service Rule Committee, which governs the level of Club indebtedness.
Prior to rejoining Major League Baseball, Mr. Mariner served as Chief Operating Officer and CFO of Charter Schools USA (CSUSA), one of the nation's leading and fastest growing Charter School development and management companies. In this role, he was responsible for overseeing all of CSUSA's day-to-day activities, including curriculum development, education and school operations; marketing and public relations; finance; technology; and human resources.
Mr. Mariner was one of the initial investors in CSUSA, and has been a member of their Board of Directors since 1998. Other investors in CSUSA include Knowledge Universe (KU), an educational investment fund founded with initial investments from Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corporation; Michael Milken, KU's Chairman; and Lowell Milken, President of the Milken Family Foundation, KU's Vice Chairman, and a recognized expert on education.
Mr. Mariner previously served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for the Florida Marlins Baseball Club. In his capacity as Chief Financial Officer, he was responsible for directing all of the Club's day-to-day financial and administrative activities, including financial reporting, budgeting, payroll, and cash management, as well as the human resources, information technology, and risk management functions. Mr. Mariner was also President of Marlins Ballpark Development Corp., where he was responsible for overseeing the development, funding and of the Marlins' then-proposed $400 million baseball-only ballpark in south Florida.
Given the multiple sports team holdings of owner H. Wayne Huizenga, Mr. Mariner also held the position of Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for the Florida Panthers Hockey Club during their initial start-up and 1993-94 inaugural season. In addition, he previously served as Chief Financial Officer for Pro Player Stadium, the 70,000-seat, 216-suite sports complex that serves as home for both the Florida Marlins and Miami Dolphins.
Prior to joining the Marlins, Mr. Mariner was appointed Vice President of Finance and Administration for the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, the private, non-profit entity exclusively responsible for tourism promotion and development for Miami-Dade County, Florida. His primary focus involved implementing new computerized accounting, cost controls, and budgeting systems, resulting in significant costs saving and a complete financial turn-around from a debt-laden, cash-strapped operation to one with a seven-figure surplus cash balance.
Mr. Mariner began his professional career with MCI Communications, Inc, serving as a Senior Financial Analyst, and later, Senior Manager, on a wide variety of corporate projects ranging from the acquisition of cellular telephone rights; acquiring satellite transponder capacity; and implementing an electronic mail product. His final position there was as Senior Manager of Corporate Planning and Budgets. Mr. Mariner moved to south Florida to serve as Senior Manager of Mergers and Acquisitions for Ryder Truck Rental in 1985. His subsequent assignments included stints as Senior Manager of Strategic Planning and Budgets, and Controller of Insurance Operations for Ryder's Leasing Division.
Mr. Mariner graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.S. degree in Accounting and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), and received his MBA degree from the Harvard Business School. He was recently featured on the cover of CFO Magazine, and has been listed in the Top 10 in Sports Illustrated's annual listing of the 101 Most Influential Minorities in Sports. Mr. Mariner has also been a frequent public speaker on the topic of the business of professional sports, including symposiums at Harvard, MIT, Columbia and the Darden School.
Mr. Mariner currently serves on the Board of Directors of two publicly traded companies: BankAtlantic Bancorp (NYSE: BBX), the parent company of BankAtlantic Bank (commercial banking), and Ryan, Beck and Co. (investment banking); and Steiner Leisure, Ltd. (NASDAQ: STNR), the worldwide, leading provider of salon and spa services to the cruise ship industry, and an operator spa resorts and day spas around the world.
Mr. Mariner has been active as a volunteer in several educational-related organizations, having recently served as Chairman of the Broward Community College Foundation Board, and has been active on the following Advisory Boards: The University of Virginia's McIntire School of Commerce; the Stanford Parents' Advisory Board; and the Advisory Board of The Pine Crest School in Ft. Lauderdale.
Mr. Mariner's other community service affiliations include having served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce; and on the Board of Directors for the United Way of Greater Miami; the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau; Miami-Dade County's Alliance for Human Services; the Beacon Council (Miami-Dade County's official economic development agency); and the CHARLEE Foundation Board, a foster care program funded primarily by actress Rosie O'Donnell.
A twenty-year resident of the South Florida area, Mr. Mariner now splits his time between New York City and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, with wife Mildred and college-aged sons Brian, Matthew, and Phillip. In his spare time, he enjoys golf, sailing, racquetball, and martial arts, having obtained his black belt in Northern Shaolin Eagle Claw Kung Fu. |
